TRANSFORMING LIVES In March of 2017,
National Honor Society (NHS) met in Mrs. Kealer’s classroom to begin planning service projects for the 2017-2018 school year. Mr. Kealer happened to be waiting in the room during the meeting and the students began asking him questions about his companion, Guide Dog Rio. They were interested in the types of services he performs and the training required for service dogs. They learned that, of the many puppies born into the selective breeding program at Southeastern Guide Dogs (SEGD) who undergo extensive training, only a small percentage become working service dogs. They also learned that there is a waiting list for guide dogs for those who cannot see and service dogs for veterans who have seen too much. Since their 1982 inception, SEGD has paired 3,200 guide and service dog teams. The students decided then and there that their next service project would be supporting SEGD. Mrs. Kealer went to work researching how NHS could best support SEGD and learned that the training program relies extensively on raisers who volunteer to attend classes and socialize puppies in their homes and communities for a full year or more before they are re-evaluated for continued on-campus training as guide or service dogs. While the cost of veterinary care is covered by SEGD, puppy raisers take on the monthly expenses of flea and tick prevention, food, crating, bedding, leashes, toys, etc. What could be better than bringing the whole school community together for a hands-on service project that students could fund, nurture, and literally watch grow every day? NHS developed a proposal for puppy raising on the MCC campus which stressed how the project aligned with our Franciscan values of humility, inclusivity, integrity and generosity as well as St. Francis’ love of animals. As a bonus to the students, the impact dogs have in reducing stress on school campuses is well-documented. With administrative support, in August, 2017 the MCC school community began socializing Riley who is now working as a guide dog for a mother, business owner, and writer who is progressively losing her vision to Retinitis Pigmentosa. In August, 2018 we welcomed our second puppy, Cisco (short for the Spanish, Francisco, whose name was chosen to celebrate our Franciscan charism.) After his return to SEGD and additional months of training on their campus,
18 | MELBOURNE CENTRAL CATHOLIC
WITH EXCEPTIONAL DOGS
it was determined that Cisco would be happier placed in a home with a couple who is committed to continuing his life of service by putting his social skills and training to use as a hospital therapy dog.
time to place him with a permanent puppy raiser. Darrell is currently living in South Carolina with his puppy raiser and will return to the SEGD campus for evaluation and formal training later this year.
In 2019, the Diocese of Orlando announced that service animals in training were no longer allowed on Church properties, but this did not stop the NHS students’ resolve to continue the work they had started. In May of 2019, SEGD puppy raiser, Mr. Jon Sperling, agreed to socialize Dooley for MCC. Guide and service dogs must be intelligent, hard-working, disciplined, enthusiastic, and loyal, so it is only fitting that NHS sponsored the name of their next puppy in celebration of Coach Dooley’s 30 years of service to the MCC community. After being fast-tracked for guide dog training, Dooley was diagnosed with cataracts, resulting in his placement with a Gold Star Family this past December. Gold Star Families are the immediate families of a fallen service member who died while serving in a time of conflict. Families apply to SEGD for a Gold Star Family dog and the wait time for just the right match can be fairly lengthy. While not serving as a guide dog as was NHS’s original hope, Dooley’s placement with this family perfectly reflects Mr. Dooley’s character and MCC’s Franciscan value of happily and selflessly helping others in whatever capacity we are called to serve.
On many Saturday mornings, NHS students worked hard washing cars and selling SEGD Walkathon raffle tickets to raise over $8,000 in direct donations to SEGD and an additional $2,000 to support all puppy raising efforts. Since 2017, NHS students have taken two field trips to the SEGD campus in Palmetto, FL to hear alumni speak about how their dogs have profoundly changed their lives, learn about the breeding program, and tour the growing facilities, including everyone’s favorite stop - the nursery. People often ask how the MCC community dealt with the emotions of returning Riley and Cisco to SEGD after loving and caring for them for over a year. Puppy raising taught all of us that performing meaningful service for others requires effort and demands true personal sacrifice.
In appreciation of Dooley’s amazing training, NHS sponsored the name of the current SEGD puppy Mr. Sperling started raising in September of 2020. Shiloh is named in memory of the Air Force Military Working Dog who was his partner at Patrick Air Force Base from 1984-1987. We look forward to following Shiloh’s progress! When COVID impacted MCC’s campus and moved students and teachers to distance learning in March of 2020, SEGD also had to downsize operations which sent them scrambling to find raisers for the puppies old enough to leave campus. Teaching from home afforded Mrs. Kealer the opportunity to volunteer to begin socializing eight-week-old Darrell, giving SEGD
